This small market town is bursting with colourful houses and indie shops and has a bakery worth travelling for, as Portia Jones finds

ONE of the first things that'll catch your eye in Llandeilo is the row of pastel-coloured houses brightening up its narrow streets. This buzzing market town in Carmarthenshire doesn’t do drab.

- By Portia Jones

The 18thand 19th-century buildings bring history, while the bubblegum-pink, mint-green, and lemon-yellow facades add pleasing splashes of colour and personality to one of Wales’ most vibrant and community-spirited towns.

Unsurprisingly, The Sunday Times also named it the best place to live in Wales in 2023.

Perched on a hill with a sweeping view over a bend in the Afon Tywi, one of the longest rivers flowing entirely within Wales, Llandeilo has a long history of nearly 2,000 years.

Recent digs in nearby Dinefwr Park also uncovered not one but two Roman forts, tracing the town’s history back to the Ist century AD.

Fast-forward a few centuries, and Dinefwr Castle became the royal HQ for the kings and princes of Deheubarth, a powerhouse Welsh dynasty that held its own against the Anglo-Normans right up until Edward I showed up in the late 1200s.

Today, the town is bursting with independent shops and cafés and is home to the striking 18th-century Cawdor Hotel. It might not get the same hype as Welsh hotspots like Tenby or Narberth, but don’t let that fool you, Llandeilo punches well above its weight for a small town and is absolutely worth the detour.

Walk over the 19th-century stone bridge (built 1848) and up aptly named Bridge Street, and you'll spot a strip of pastel-coloured properties that date back to around the 1780s. Some served as businesses years ago, but these days they’re mostly homes, with a few Airbnbs.

Keep plodding along, and you'll soon reach the main high street with independent cafés and shops, as well as swish hotels and pubs, including the Cawdor Hotel, the White Hart Pub, and Flows in Market Street.

Shopping has long been a highlight of Llandeilo. The town’s impressive range of indie shops and boutiques includes fashion stores, butchers, a chocolate emporium, furniture, crafts, menswear, and jewellers.